Aug 19, 2015 - 11:43 PM
in reply to Slowpoke
Hi Texbase,
The best exchange rate is not to change paper money at all, rather, use your ATM card to withdraw Swiss Francs once you are in country. Your exchange rate will be considerably less than paying another intermediary. ATMs are pretty much everywhere. Some tips:
1. Find out if your bank charges a fee for withdrawals from foreign ATMS and, if so, how that fee is assessed. For example, our bank charges a flat $5 regardless of withdrawal amount. Therefore, we requested our withdrawal max be set as high as possible (in this case, $1,000) and we make one or two larger withdrawals vs lots of smaller ones.
2. Be sure to let your bank know where and when you will be traveling or they will likely deny any ATM withdrawals at all. Same goes for your credit card companies. Most allow you to do this easily on -line.
3. If you withdraw money from a Swiss ATM on a Friday or over a weekend it is highly likely that you won't be able to make another withdrawal until Tuesday when your US bank opens (Monday in the US).